The Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau has launched “Make Owensboro Your Safe Haven,” a campaign aimed at providing a feeling of safety for visitors looking to explore the area.
CVB Destination Management Director Dave Kirk said though Owensboro is dealing with the pandemic like everywhere else, case counts are trending lower than many larger destinations.
Kirk said the CVB first considered launching the campaign in the fall when he and others on his team began looking into what visitors were looking for in travel destinations, the number one thing — by and large — was a feeling of safety.
With that information, Kirk said the CVB began asking themselves, “What is Owensboro?”
“Typically there’s a lot less crime here than other places and, for a while there, a lot less cases of COVID-19,” Kirk said. “Our tourism partners were going above and beyond with masks, making hand sanitizers to make others feel safe. We knew our audience. We knew our message.”
Then the number of cases started spiking locally. That put the agency’s campaign on hold. However, things began to improve again in recent weeks.
“With the vaccine rollout, the number of cases going down, we’re starting to turn a corner,” Kirk said. “We’re not through it yet. But Owensboro is a comfortable place. It’s like when you go back home for the weekend or over the break when you’re away at college. It’s small and comforting, but there’s still plenty of stuff to do.”
The campaign launched with a video featuring a number of destinations including the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Green River Distilling Company, Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn, Brew Bridge and the Western Kentucky Botanical Gardens.
“The campaign will stretch later into spring with a series of images showcasing experiences as we move to brighter days ahead,” said Mark Calitri, CVB President and CEO. “It will be constantly evolving based on guidance we receive in terms of the pandemic. The health and wellbeing of both our tourism partners, residents and visitors remains our top priority.”
